Friday, June 30, 2006

The hats are official FOs! The picture is rather disappointing, though. I snapped the shot late last night when I was really sleepwalking. Of course, this morning I had the brilliant idea of placing the hats in the fruit basket with apples, peaches, and plums. Now that would have been a cute photo! So, take a look at the hats, close your eyes, and then imagine them mingling with other fruits. Isn't that better?

Icord stem:Slide stitches to end of needle to begin icord. Change yarn to green.Row 1: knit all six stitches.Row 2: Knit into the front and back of all stitches. (I increase here back to 12 after decreasing for two reasons. First, a 12 stitch icord can be very difficult to knit well. Secondly, decreasing to 6 stitches for the crown makes the whole at the top of the hat smaller.)Row 3: Knit 4 stitches of icord, place the next 3 stitches on a new dpn. Let the dpn hang. Continue knitting across the remaining stitches. The 3 stitches on the DPN will become a leaf.Row 4: Knit 2, Knit next 3 stitches through front and back. Place the new stitches on a new dpn. Knit across remaing icord stitches with original dpn.Row 5: Knit icord.Row 6: Knit icord.Row 7: Bind off.

For those of you who may not read the Yarn Harlot, one of her readers is asking for donated baby hats in fruit and veggie themes to incourage low income mothers to nurse their babies. Isn't it a bit coincidental that I post about how important food is to me, while I'm knitting up a tangerine hat, and then Stephanie is asking readers for fruit themed baby hats. Hmmmm, very interesting. Please feel free to use the hat pattern for this project, or to just make a baby look cute. Hopefully, I'll have a picture of the twins wearing the hats. First, they need to be blocked and shipped.

In Little Clover NewsWell, folks, it's been another exciting week with elementry kids! The week began with one of Little Clover's friend volunteering me to take him home for a playdate after a birthday party because his parents were going to a wedding and he didn't want to go. Needless to say, he came home with me. Little Clover and the friend had a good time even though his friend couldn't figure out why Little Clover wasn't bored all the time since he was an only child. The friend is one of four.

The week moved on to the final three baseball games of the season (cheering from the parents)! Game 1 was a good match between two gifted teams. The boys paid attention to the game for three out of the 5 innings which is quite an accomplishment. Both teams had minimal playing in the dirt time.

Game 2 spiced up the week with a match-up between school rivals! For the first four innings, Little Clover's team was trailing the rival team. With a few well placed hits (actually, the other little people were being little people while balls rolled between their legs), Little Clover's team tied up the game in the bottom of the fifth inning! the coaches conferred to discuss extra innings. The decision was made and Little Clover's team trotted back onto the field to the amazement of the parents!

Little Clover's team tried the best the could to stop the rivals from scoring, but inspite of their efforts, the rivals snuck in one run, pushing them ahead. Little Clover's team was able to end the inning only trailing by one.

Little Clover was the first to bat for his team. As he's warming up on deck, his coach says, "If you make a home run, I'll buy you a pizza." The crowd could see the determination in his eyes. He wanted that pizza.

He stepped up to the plate. The first pitch went by. Little Clover waited. The next pitch was launched. He swung...and he missed! The next pitch was launched, again he swung and missed. The tension in the stands was stifling. The next pitch was launched, again he swung. Pow! His hit landed in deep centerfield! He rounded first base, he rounded second base. The rival team scrambled to reach the ball. He rounded third, heading for home. The rival team threw the ball into the infield just as Little Clover crossed the plate! He was getting his pizza!

The score was tied again and once again, the coach got together. They decided to play one more inning. The rival team was at bat. The inning was brutal for Little Clover's team who allowed three runs in before the third out.

Little Clover's team was up to bat. With amazing skill and luck, they were able to make up the difference and tie the game! (With another homerun hitter declaring that he wanted a pizza as he crossed home plate). The team had two outs and one runner on third. Red, who had improved greatly through the year, was up to bat. He missed the ball with his first two swings. On the third swing, he made contact and beat the ball to first base, while the runner at third ran across home, for his first RBI of the season (and his second time to make it to a base)!!!!!! Little Clover's team wins (11 - 10)!!!!!!!!!

The final game was last night. They played another team from his school, so the game was very fun and very laid back. The parents cheered for all the kids from both teams, and much fun was had by all.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

For starters, my dad was born today. (Hello, Daddy!) My dad is not just a wonderful dad, but also a wonderful man. He taught me to stand-up and argue for my beliefs, he taught me how to skip rocks, and he taught me the importance of family. He introduced me to nature and camping and capturing memories through photography. One summer when I came back home, my dad and I sat on the swing outside, enjoying the afternoon sun and breeze. He made the comment that as a parent, it's a joy to see a little bit of yourself in your child and to see a little bit of your child in yourself. Dad, I'm glad to be like you. Happy birthday.

Second- and third-ly, the twins have arrived! Happy, happy, birthday to the California Tangerines! The second hat is almost done (I'm knitting on the leaves). This go round, I actually did write down the pattern.

The picture at the top are the Barefoot Contessa Coconut cupcakes that are going to my dad. His favorite cake is Coconut Cake. ummmmmm!

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

I believe that every human being should enjoy food. This may seem to be an odd belief and I hope that people do enjoy food, but the truth is, there are too many mouths that remain dry, taste buds that lack experience, and stomachs that remain empty. When these mouths are wetted, the taste buds experienced, and the stomachs full, amazing things can happen. Learning can occur, shelter can be built, plans can be made, and worlds can be created. The lack of food brings about the lack of advancement since the human body will resort to one focus, and that is to find something, anything, to eat.

I live in a world that has plenty. You can call it lucky or blessed, either way, I do not want for anything. I have a job, I have a family, I have friends, I have an education, and I have food. I eat what I want when I want. I don't ever have to wonder when I will eat again. Instead, I wonder what I will eat from the many food resources available to me. The luxury of planning a meal and taking the time to prepare it is old to me. I have been fortunate enough to be able to be picky about what I eat, hunting out organically created foods and gourmet items. I love to eat because I choose to eat what is delicious. I savor food, letting the taste of the ingredients swirl around my tongue as I sigh with contentment. I also shamefully waste food, often throwing things away because they rotted before I felt like eating them or because they just didn't appeal to me anymore. I, and most people who will read this, are in the minority.

The problem of hunger is also not unique to developing nations. Sure there are plenty of people in developing countries who starve daily, but hungry people also exist within the borders of my country, my state, my city. People who I pass on the streets, who go to the public schools, whose houses I drive by daily are not eating. They are starving and struggling to make a better life.

I recently listened to an NPR story on poverty in the south. One of the ladies Michelle Norris interviewed for the piece received food subsidies for her groceries. She receives a little over $160 for her groceries. Yep, $160 to feed herself and her son. When I heard that, I felt ashamed, not just for all the food I had just thrown out of the fridge and pantry, but for the amount of money I spend on a week's worth of groceries for my family. $160. How does that compare to what you eat?

Without food, people cannot begin to focus on the other aspects of life that will bring success. They cannot learn because they are hungry. They cannot build because their bodies are not nourished. They cannot develop or grow because their basic needs are unfulfilled. I've added two links to the side under "Plant a seed." The first is for The Hungersite. The Hungersite is a website that has a list of sponsors who will donate funds for every unique click they receive each day. By clicking on the "Help Feed the Hungry" button, you will be providing food to people all over the world. Plus, it is completely free to you.

The second site is one that hits closer to home, literally. America's Second Harvest provides funding to local area foodbanks. That's right, you will be supporting local foodbanks by donating to America's Second Harvest. Instead of buying yarn or something that is more a want than a need one month, how about donating to end hunger in your city? You may be feed a child who lives in your city.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Little Clover discovered yesterday that he has a magic room. I was in the middle of folding and putting away laundry when he made this discovery. The clothes that belonged in his room were neatly put away. He had dutifully tucked some of his clothes into his drawers, and I had helped him out and tucked away the others. Then I walked down the hall to put way my clothes.

Suddenly, Little Clover is running into my room with pajamas in hand and exclaimed, "Mama! I have a magic room!"

"Really?!"

"Yes! I went to get some jammies, and when I looked in my drawer, these were in there!" he exclaimed while holding up the pajama bottoms. "I've never seen these before! They just appeared!"

Oh, the magic of laundry.

Now, if I could get my knitting to just grow without my intervention, I'd be sailing through my WIPs. Actually, I am sailing through the sweater, and Italian loves it. He's amazed with how much the front of the sweater has grown since Thursday, and I must say, I am too. Now that I have the stitch pattern memorized, I'm able to knit with only a glance every now and then at the chart. Plus, I realized the genius of knitting the back of the sweater first. By knitting the back first, Jolene Treace gives the knitter a chance to learn the pattern and make little mistakes in an area where it won't be seen. More than likely, the front of the sweater is going to get most of the attention. By the time the knitter gets to the front, the sweater is easyier and the pattern doesn't seem quite as complicated anymore. Truly, this is a great way to tackle a sweater.

Friday, June 23, 2006

I sing. In the church choir. And, I knit. I think the knitting really cinched the label for me. The knitting plus the whole church choir thing. Italian was talking to a neighbor of ours after the board meeting for a small school for kids with certain disabilities. Our friends are very involved with the school and oen of them is also a board member, so they were just hanging around talking after the meeting ended. Our neighbor is about our age and cute and lively. She was commenting on how Italian and I need to come to more neighborhood stuff.

Italian comment that we would love to but our schedules are rather tight with school, work, sports, choir, and, yep, knitting.

"Oh," our neighbor said. "Well, then, I'm not sure your wife (that would be me) would like to hang out with us."

"Why's that?" Italian innocently laughs.

"Well," she said, "we like to, you know, drink."

Italian and our friend at this point start to snicker. And I have to tell you, I kinda chuckled when he told me the story. The thought of anyone picturing me as a teetotaling, prim and proper type of gal was humorous at the very least (not that I am opposed to such a lifestyle, it just isn't me - I am Irish).

I'm not prim, and I'm not all that proper. I enjoy a good party, especially if it involves good drinks and I don't have to bring my own, which I've been known to do. Luckily, I had my friend and Italian there ready to attest to my enjoyment of the end product of the fermentation process.

So what was it that gave my neighbor this vision of primness that my friends find amusing? I think it was the knitting. Just for that, I'm going to have to wear my knitted bikini again this season. And I'll proudly hold a Cosmopolitan while wearing it. Now, to the bar!Pictures of the chemo cap that will be sent North. It's made in a Rowan cotton silk blend. The name escapes me right now, you can blame it on the wine. The odd angles are not the result of wine, but rather, unavailability of a photographer who is not in primary school or walks on four legs. The pattern is my own. I casted on with a picot cast on, then knitted a few rows, then added eyelets, then knitted a bit and then purled a row and repeated. If anyone wants a formal pattern, let me know and I'll write one up.

Monday, June 19, 2006

It's not a finished object, but I'm one step closer now. The back to the anniversary/marathon sweater is complete and the front no longer seems as daunting. I know I can do the pattern, in fact, the pattern has become easy and I can zone a bit while knitting it. With one piece complete, I only have three more pieces to do, and the sleeves really could be combined to count for one piece instead of two separate piece since they are smaller and require fewer stitches. That seems fair and logical to me. The number of pieces are dwindling and I'm getting a second wind. I just hope it's enough to sustain me to sail through the sleeves. Of course, I did miss the Little Clover imposed deadline of Father's Day, but he has ulterior motives (he wants me to knit another stuffed animal), but I have a new deadline to go along with my second wind.

Of course, there has been other knitting to keep me tempted and away from the sweater. Italian's extended family is expecting the arrival of twin boys. Since the boys are living in California, I'm sending them a little tangerine.The pattern is my own and I will post it as soon as I figured out what in the world I did. The hat part is rather simple stockinette in the round for five inches before decreasing. I'm not sure what I did with the leaves. For the next hat, I'll actually take notes on how the leaf is shaped. For this hat, I just wanted to see if I could figure it out. It's not the best leaf or the most natural, but it will do for a newborn. I hope he isn't born with any inherit knowledge on leaves.

I've also had another cap to keep my hands away from the sweater. A chemo cap will be sent to an aunt. Send her happy thoughts if you would.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Little Clover has had a rather active few weeks which has kept us busy and on the go. His baseball schedule consists of practices and games a few times a week, and although the games are only five innings at this age, they still last for at least an hour and a half. He loves it though. He looks forward to each game and loves wearing the long hot baseball pants because they allow him to slide into every base (which he does) or dive to catch a ball (which he does). I didn't fully appreciate the older Tide detergent commercials until now. I get rather excited when a cleaning commercial comes on tv.

The shedule of course is not just demanding for him. He still needs someone to drive him to practices and games, which is where Italian and I come in. We do get a bit of a break after baseball season, but then soccer begins, then basketball, then we are back to baseball. Out of the year, we have roughly two months that are not devoted in some way to some sport. Honestly, this is not a bad thing. We may be in sports 10 months, but that also means that for 10 months, I am guarenteed a few hours every week to sit and knit while I watch Little Clover practice. This is a beautiful thing. The other parents have gotten accustomed to seeing me with my knitting. Now, they ask for progress reports and are a bit disappointed if I finish a project away from sports and they don't get to see the end result. I'm trying to time the knitting a bit better. Knitting at games is a bit trickier. Little Clover is quite the athlete and I love watching him play.

His season so far has been incredible. He's hitting balls from a pitching machine, something he has never done before, and he hits them far. His hits clear the infield and land in the outfield. He's hit a homerun, he always makes it to the base. This week, he fielded a ball and stepped on base to get the runner out at first, he assisted in an out by throwing a runner out, and finally, he was part of a double play. Double plays are rare to begin with, but in little people baseball, it's almost unheard of! Now for the amazing part, we discovered this week at his check up that he can't see. Nope, he's got horrible eyesight! On the eye chart, he could point out the big E and then nothing else!

In the words of Little Clover, "Mama, my eyesight is poor. It doesn't have any money." This is prime humor for a little person.(I can't wait to see how he plays when he can actually see the ball.)

Monday, June 12, 2006

This weekend, I was KIPping. KIP means "Knit in Public," and Saturday, June 10, was the second annual World Wide Knit In Public Day, a day for knitters to get out and knit, in public. Novel idea isn't it? Some knitters are regular KIPpers, others, only KIP in groups, still others, are shy about their knitting and don't KIP at all. WWKIP is a show of solidarity among knitters and honestly, knowing that knitters all over the world are out and about displaying their enthusiasm for fiber is rather exciting. For the longest time, knitting had the reputation of being stiff, dowdy, and just down right uncool. Knitting was relegated to parlors and was not carried to the local pub. Only a certain type of person knitted. Not anymore!

My WWKIP celebrations began with taking my knitting to a 9:00 am birthday party screening of Cars. The knitting stayed in the bag. The movie was just too good to take my eyes off the screen. Seriously, it was very good, go see it, just don't expect to knit while seeing it. After the movie, we rushed to a baseball game where I knitted on a tangerine hat for Italian's cousin in California who is having twins. I'm winging the pattern and was shocked to see that it looked like a fruit of some sort. There is a little stem on the top and little leaves. (A picture and a pattern are coming.)

After the game, I drove downtown to my knitting groups KIP event. We knitted while drinking beer (it was a pub) and dining on fish and chips (I am Irish). While knitting, drinking, and eating, I looked at the other people there and was amazed at how different everyone in my little knit group is. We range in age and background. Some are politically conservative and others are politically liberal. Some of us are parents and some of us are single. We even have a guy knitter who comes and hangs out with us. We listen to different bands, and come from different cities. We like different foods and we live in different parts of our city. Shoot, some of us even live in a different state all together. We have a lot of differences, but we always have fun when we are together knitting. And really, how cool is that? If we were to have met without sticks and yarn in our hands, we probably would not think twice about the meeting. We would probably not try to form connections because we may not have seen how similar we really are. But because we are knitters, we look forward to seeing each other. We look forward to sharing what is going on in our lives. We look forward to being with others who share our interest and for the two or three hours that we sit and knit, we look forward to being knitters, and being with others who understanding that part of us.

Friday, June 09, 2006

I love reading other knitters' blogs. I love seeing their projects, their ideas, their patterns. It gives me lots of warm woolen fuzzies. Then I realize they must knit much, much faster than I do because new completed projects seem to always pop up on their sites. I panic and begin knitting self doubt. How do they do it? Do they sacrifice sleep? Do they have an amazing knitting speed? What is their secret and why aren't they telling me what it is????? I cry a little (but not too much because it might felt my knitting). I cried, that is, until I read the blogs this week.

I'm not one to take joy in other's issues, but I have to say, this past week in the blogging world made me feel a bit better. Loads of bloggers from the Yarn Harlot to Knit and Tonic seem to be stuck in their knitting. Quite a few posted on other nonknitting things because showing an extra inch of progress on a stockingette stitch just wasn't their thing. I felt not so alone and not quite so inadequate. The anniversary sweater is still being preempted by other WIPs every now and then, but I am making progress.

While holding the sweater up on the floppy circulars, take out the tape measure. Use thumb to hold the tape measure zero mark as close to the top as you can while swing the sweater to try to stop the tape measure from spinning.

Repeat the above step for about five minutes, or until your arms get tired of holding the heavy alpaca sweater.

Stare in shock at the half inch difference between the flat and held-up sweater measurements.

Put knitting away while you grumble and curse.

Log onto online knitting community and ask how they measure their knitting.

Watch the mini stir of activity that erupts.

Research measuring online. Slowly realize that there are lots of discussion, and advocates for both methods.

Drink wine.

Take out knitting and try holding up the knitting and the tape measure, and try measuring again.

Realize that other people live in the house and they can hold the knitting.

Have them hold knitting. Measure accurately. Realize you've knit to far. Curse. Decide to live with it and keep knitting.

Hold tongue as recipient of sweater asks "Is this going to fit me?" Use the energy to knit faster.

On a none knitting note, Little Clover hit a homerun at his baseball game yesterday. The grin that spread across his face as he ran home and received pats from his teammates was the most amazing thing I saw all day.

Monday, June 05, 2006

How does a knitter spend her weekend? You'd think by knitting, but not at this knitter's house, not this weekend. Now, don't think I didn't have a chance to knit. There were plenty of moments when I could have sat on the sofa, listening to knitting podcasts, knitting away on the gansey or on the Honeymoon Cami or on the Yukon socks. Instead, I spent a good part of the weekend smelling like cloves and camphor and other menthol-esque natural plant thingies (that's a technical botanical term).

The weekend began innocently enough. We head down to the annual Italian Fest to celebrate Italian and Little Clover's ancestory. Here is Italian with the drink of his people.We ate the fair food of Italian's people, aka Italian Sausage (on a bun with grilled onions and peppers covered in marinara sauce), while Little Clover played here:Then, the powers of the rock wall overcame my good sense. I convinced Little Clover to climb the wall with me. He agreed as long as I didn't make him climb all the way to the top. This seemed fair. Now, I've never climbed a rock wall and my real rock climbing has been limited to hiking to the top of Stone Mountain. I only had to use my feet and it was a gentle incline. This was a straight-up vertical with some parts that jutted out.

Little Clover and I began. We were doing great. The guys that were in charge of the wall were helping Little Clover climb. Then, he climbed up higher than they could reach, so I reached down and pulled Little Clover up, then he climed up on me. Yep, he climbed on top of me. I'm barely hanging on to this fake rock, and I suddenly gained an extra 49 pounds on my back. If I were a smart person, I would have let go and glided down with Little Clover on my back. Instead, I'm stubborn and I was deteremined to reach the top. I asked Little Clover if he wanted to go up higher, he replied with "Nope, and you told me I didn't have to." Again, who is the smart one???

He drifted down, I climbed up, and then I remained in pain for the rest of the weekend! Playing in a tennis tournament Saturday sure didn't help much either. I could not bend my wrist due to this sharp pain that went up my arms everytime I moved. I couldn't not knit though, so I rubbed Tiger Balm (a more organic approach to Icy Hot) all over my arms. I smelled so awful that the dog didn't even want to play with me. That's okay, though, I did finish these:which Little Clover wore to church with his God t-shirt (a story for another day).

Oh, and how does one warm a knitter's heart? By wearing a knitted gift.Saturday, the family went out to celebrate Xavier Boy's birthday. Italian's sister, the one who received the silk cami for her birthday, wore the cami to dinner. I felt very honored.

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Let me count the ways. Approximately 17,171 stitches. Plus a few more several thousand to go. Italian asked me if making a sweater is hard. I had to think about it. The actual process of knitting a sweater isn't that hard. It's just knits and purls afterall, something that most beginning knitters can do. Sure there is some shaping, instead of knitting just one stitch at a time, you knit two together. It's the completion of a sweater that drives knitters batty.

When Italian asked the question, I immediately began to think of the Yarn Harlot spinning all those meters of yarn for Joe's gansey. I thought of the boyfriend sweater curse. I thought of how I'm tempting fate by knitting my spouse a sweater during the 7th year, the year of with the notorious itch. I thought of the lady in her 80s at the hobby store when I bought yarn to make what I thought would be a sweater for Italian, and her response when I told her it was to be a sweater for my hubby. She said, "Humph, I did that once." The yarn later became a hoodie for Little Clover. I thought of all the things that knitters say when contemplating making their first sweaters. Finally, I thought of all the knitters who won't make sweaters. It's not the sweater that holds them back. It's the commitment. It's the time to actual knit on it and to keep knitting, and to keep knitting. I feel for the Yarn Harlot. She may be close to finishing the spinning, but she still has to cast on. Maybe she can get Joe to diet just a wee bit. Then she can make a sweater one size smaller. I'm just saying. One must be wise in making a sweater and use whatever strategies one can.

Those 17,171 stitches are just the front, and not even the whole of the front. Each stitch is a bit of my time, a bit of my skill, and a bit of my future. I have many more stitches to go (and at this rate, many more hours, so many that maybe Italian will get to wear it sometime in Alaska - maybe). When I think of how much I have left, it doesn't bother me. I've hit the sweater high, kinda like the runner's high that a marathon runner gets. I'm in the zone and every few rows, I look at what I've accomplish and can't wait to see what else I can do. It'll be a long process and I've often wished that I were a faster knitter, but I'm enjoying the process. You see, I know the sweater is going to be around for a long time. I look forward to seeing it every evening. I know that it's there waiting for me and will keep me cozy. I think I'm even going to be a bit sad when it's finished.

So, no, making a sweater really isn't hard. Okay, I've had my moments. (Remember the naked trees - aka telephone poles - incident? I've moved on.) Overall, though, I'd done harder things. This sweater, is a very long, at times uphill with no downhill in site, marathon walk in the park.

Friday, June 02, 2006

Me: Sighing longingly as I stare at a pergola at Costco, wondering how long I could have it up before Italian would notice.Little Clover: That is the silliest thing I've ever seen.Me: What? You don't like it?Little Clover: No, it's silly.Me: Why don't you like it?Little Clover: Because, when it rains, you're still gonna get wet.